1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a muscle retractor for spine surgery, and more particularly, to a muscle retractor for spine surgery capable of retracting and spreading muscles around a spine during spine surgery.
2. Discussion of Related Art
In recent times, as people spend more time seated, patients with spine conditions due to incorrect posture or injury from a fall such as a lumbar herniated intervertebral disc (also known as a slipped disc) or the like are increasing.
When a spinal abnormality occurs, the spinal abnormality can be initially treated through drug treatment, exercise therapy, injection therapy, physical therapy, or the like. However, when symptoms of the spinal abnormality are severe, surgery of removing a herniated intervertebral disc or inserting a space configured to maintain a gap between vertebral bodies is performed.
Here, the spine surgery is performed through hemilaminectomy. For this, various types of retractors have been developed such that an operator can secure a visual field for a surgical area and smoothly insert a surgical instrument into a human body to perform a surgical procedure.
In an initial stage of the spine surgery, a retractor, which is manually operated, has been used to retract muscles. However, pulling power differs from individual to individual, and it is difficult for an assistant to concentrate only on a pulling action. For this reason, a self retractor that can more effectively spread muscles has been developed. Such a self retractor is constituted by a blade section in contact with muscles, and a retraction section configured to spread the muscles. While both of the sections are integrally formed with each other at the initial stage, the integrated blade cannot be easily inserted at a tilted angle or cannot be easily inserted into narrow gap of two muscles strip, and a depth of back muscles differs from individual to individual. Accordingly, a self retractor having two sections, which are separated from each other before insertion and then coupled to each other after insertion into muscles to exchange various blades having different lengths with each other, has been developed.
Here, in such a self retractor, a lower end of the blade section is bent at an appropriate angle and length to stably surround and grip the muscles without slipping of the blade upon retraction of the muscles. However, the bent portion may interfere with the surroundings of the muscles and disturb insertion thereinto when the blade is inserted between the muscles.
In addition, in the conventional self retractor, the blade section in contact with the muscles should be coupled to the retraction section after the blade section is mounted on the muscles. In the related art, a cylindrical projection is formed at an upper end of the blade and a groove corresponding thereto is formed in the retraction section so that the retraction section is lowered and the blade is inserted thereinto. However, such a coupling process is not smooth and the blade is coupled to the retracting section under condition of applying a raising power to the blade. In connection with this, the blade gripping the muscles at an appropriate position in an initial stage may lose its grip of the muscles during the coupling process. For this reason, the self retractor should be installed again several times or the muscles blocking the operator's view should be cut out.
In addition, since the conventional self retractor must insert two blades between the muscles one by one, in order to insert the first blade between the muscles and then insert the second blade therebetween, the assistant must securely grip the first blade with no movement. However, since a position of the first blade is likely to be varied while the second blade is inserted even when the assistant securely grips the first blade, an insertion process of the blades becomes very complicated.